Legal eagle to stand for Tories

A SUCCESSFUL legal professional hopes to put her case to voters after being selected as Wigan’s election candidate for the Conservatives.

Caroline Kerswell was selected to contest Lisa Nandy’s seat in May by the party’s Wigan branch and says she hopes to impress residents with plans to improve the borough’s prosperity and create jobs.

Caroline, who was born in Shropshire but now lives in Standish, hopes to make the move into Parliament having initially joined the Young Conservatives at 16.

She is also a successful solicitor and helped her brother Vernon set up toy company Extreme Fliers, which featured on hit TV show Dragon’s Den.

She hopes to put local issues at the heart of her election campaign focusing on areas including concerns about excessive levels of housebuilding and development and the decline of the high street.

Caroline said: “If, like me, you believe this election is about having a voice for Wigan which nobody can ignore, and which puts the citizens of this proud constituency first, I hope you’ll feel I’m the one to do it.

“From day one I’ll be campaigning on local issues to keep up the regeneration of our town centres and ensure we oppose inappropriate development across the constituency, especially in Standish which is facing a raw deal.

“The last few years have been extremely tough for hard- working families as we struggled to deal with Labour’s economic incompetence.

“We are now seeing things getting better and I for one want that recovery to continue, but that can only come from a party that has an economic plan to keep create more jobs and more prosperity.”

Caroline says she also hopes to campaign on a better future for the cash-strapped NHS and has pledged to fight to ensure the accident and emergency department remains at Wigan Infirmary.

One of nine children, Caroline was brought up in a rural area and started her working life in a fish and chip shop to fund her studies.

A graduate from University College London (UCL), she spent two years at financial services giant Morgan Stanley and now works for an international law firm specialising in business in Saudi Arabia.